Hawkes Bay Kingmaker

In which betrayal fails to breach walls of stone and men(ish)

Our quest to find the shawl and gather more information on the mystical fae sword Briar came to an abrupt end.

A messenger bird came to us from the centaurs. They utilised a magical item we gave them some years back and what a time to use it! Varnhold was under attack from a large army, consisting of a huge contingent of Pitax men, a unit of Wyverns and a unit of Trolls.

Our tower in the mountains served its purpose, but the men died to send the the message of invasion. We owe them a debt that shall be difficult to repay.

Imajica was able to teleport Khan, himself, Io, Oret and Learion to Shrike City, leaving Oret and Learion to marshal the armies of Elklund, while the remainder were teleported to Varnhold to assist in defending the township.

Thankfully Learion had been very insistent on setting up defensive perimeters around every settlement in our kingdom, and in the end, these very walls were crucial to the defense of our realm.

Once Imajica had rested for a day, he teleported back to Fort Drelev where I was waiting and immediately took me back to Varnhold, where I was humbled by the dedication shown not only by our own subjects, but by our allies, the centaurs, and even a group of treants!

The centaurs had mobilised and were already in the town, along with the aforementioned group of treants. Perhaps having a druid for king pays dividends in certain times of strife? All of the magic users we sent to the town performed heroic feats of magic, increasing our already substantial defenses and boosting the armies morale.

When the armies attacked, they were beaten back over and over. We focused on the Wyverns initally since they could simply fly over the walls and give us considerable trouble. Once they were dealt with, the Trolls were next. Large, powerful and regenerating troops at the walls didn’t seem like a prudent tactic.

The Trolls were also destroyed, but somehow one survived and some fast talking from Imajica saw they turn coat. I’m sincerely hoping they are left to go their own way once the battle is done.

Two units destroyed and the army of Pitax starting to take a beating, the men turned and withdrew, heading to the very pass they spewed forth from.

We followed them at a safe distance, sure in the knowledge that by this time, Learion and Oret had blocked the other side of the path with our main armies, trapping the Pitax legion in between.

With no hope of holding out, they attacked en mass. To their doom. Well defended, and flush from crushing the armies at their very gates, the armies of Elklund were decisively victorious, causing the invaders to break apart like the sea over rocks and flee into the mountains or be taken captive.

Once the invasion was over, Io and Khan spent some time with the centaurs, healing their wounds as best they were able. In the battles, the only people to have casualties were the centaurs. They were the most dangerous and unfortunately that made them a target. For defending our kingdom and honouring our alliance with honour, we owe them more than any simple debt. Our agreement to leave their lands and forge an alliance was both wise and fruitful.

After discussing this more at length, it was decided that these invaders had to have been mobilised before the Rushlight Tournament, meaning that the feeble excuse given to declare war was a sham.

Learion’s plan was to assault the very King of Pitax himself. If we can get to him, potentially, we can end this war before it becomes even larger. This means that we shore up our kingdoms defenses and make our own way into Pitax…